Flammis mortuus in anima
by Tucker798
Summary: Aside from the girls of RWBY, another team fights against time as strange happenings begin to change the world. A man, out of time, and a young girl who has never known true companionship, must work together to unravel the dark secrets of a forgotten past. as a storm of darkness descends, the balance of light and dark hangs in the balance.
1. Chapter 1

"And with that said, the mysterious and elusive Chameleon Grimm was hunted to extinction; you will not find any in the world today. There are stuffed and preserved replicas in only the best museums." Droned a voice.

A large porky teacher stood in a lecture hall, bellowing out his countless adventures and escapades to a class of half- asleep or uninterested students. Save one student, who sat in the back, but was nonetheless enthralled by his tales.

Her name was Notte Wolfe, A shy little faunas who kept to herself. Her little wolf ears poking out of her black-grey streaked hair stood straight up, listening to every word the professor spoke. While all the other students couldn't care less what he was saying, Notte was plucking the gems of knowledge out of the rabble of his boisterous lecturing. She liked the teacher, and even though she did, she still felt his lectures were irrelevant, but nonetheless she listened.

"Now, we shall move on to the next topic; insectoid grimm. We all know of the Deathstalkers, probably the most famous of all the insectoid Grimm, but by no means the most dangerous. There was a time in my youth I had to take on a nest of Deathstalkers…" and he droned on about his previous adventures. Most of his stories seemed preposterous, but obviously there was embellishment at hand, but for the most part, the professor had credibility on most of his tales.

Notte was writing down a note about Mantitanis, the mantis Grimm, when suddenly something made her drop her pen. She made a slight gurgling sound and hunched over in her seat. After a second it went away, and no one had seemed to have noticed. She picked up her pen and began writing again. Then she stopped, what she had written on her paper made no sense… it wasn't even words!

The feeling came back, and she yelped out loud. The professor stopped and looked at her, an eyebrow raised. "Miss Wolfe, is something bothering you?" he asked inquisitively.

"umm… yes sir. I feel like-"and she hunched over again, the pain bringing a tear to her eye. "I think I may be getting sick, sir." She finished, and then yelped again. The students around her jumped up, not wanting to get sick on them, and led her out of the row. She ran for the door, and dashed down the hall, where she collapsed, a burning feeling in her chest. Or was it on?

She ripped open her shirt, not caring if anyone saw, and immediately a bright light burst forth, and the heat increased. She yelled out loud, the sheer pain almost unbearable.

The ring on her necklace was on fire! But not like a natural fire, it was confined to the ring itself. It was also levitating inches from her chest, a strange aura surrounded it. A whooshing sound arose, getting louder and louder as the heat grew and grew.

Notte stood back up, staggering down the hall, clutching the ring even though it burned her. She couldn't take it off, the chain was strong, and she couldn't lift it over her head.

Notte burst out of a doorway, the sunlight hitting her. Suddenly the heat stopped, she made a run for a nearby fountain, hoping for some cooling relief. About halfway there, she was stopped dead in her tracks. A flame shot out from the ring, throwing her backwards into a bench, where she sat dazed for a second. As her eyes focused, she saw the figure of a bird… but it was made of fire! The fire-bird was being made by the flames, rising into the air and growing.

Nottes jaw dropped as the bird turned around, and she could see what it was- a Phoenix! A real phoenix was being created in front of her, and all she could do was flap her jaw in meaningless sound. The fire stopped bursting from her chest, and the ring flopped back down on her chest, unchanged even with the heat, the little gold ring was as cool as it was the day Notte had found it.

She looked back up at the Phoenix, and it hovered in front of her, still taking shape. The center was darkening, and a body emerged, But not an avian body; a human body.

The flames retracted within the person, and features began to take hold. From within a wreath of flame, a boot came out, followed by a leg, and a torso followed that. A man with flaming hair and a dark blue trench coat stood in front of her now, steam billowing from his body.

"hello ma'am, I am so so sorry you had to go through that, usually people are given warning before the rupture." Said the man, his smooth deep voice calming her. He held out a hand, and she took it and was pulled up, her feet leaving the ground as she arose, and she flopped back into the arms of the man.

"you should cover yourself up ma'am, tis a tad shameful to have your body on display so much." He said, gesturing to her exposed chest. She let out a little yelp and buttoned her shirt back up. Stammering "I'm sorry"

"Tis okay! By the way, I haven't introduced myself, my name is Rayne Ignacious, and you are?"


	2. Chapter 2: unwanted guests

Chapter 2

Unwanted guest

"umm.. Notte wolfe.." she muttered, she looked into his eyes, which were beaming, filled with life.

"Ah, hello Notte! Nice name you have, if I may say so." He said with a smirk.

"No, you may not" she replied sharply "I hate my name!" a spark crossed her eyes. "You can call me Wolfe, or Bella. That's my middle name."

"oh, ok Wolfe, I'll call you that" replied Rayne, less confident than before. Then he looked around "where are we?" he asked, spinning in circles.

"umm.. beacon?"

"Be- Beacon academy?!"

"yeah… where else would we be?"

"Oh, I don't know. I can tell it's been a while since I died... about close to twenty years. Not sure where I'd end up" said Rayne, who was not searching through his pockets, as if looking for something. "I don't seem to have my weapons… must still be in the chasm."

"wait.. slow down uh.. Rayne." Started Notte, Rayne looked up at her midway opening a pocket.

"yes?"

"you said you died? Twenty years ago? How are you standing here?"

"oh, well this would be confusing to a little girl, such as yourself, but to be honest, im not sure how I came back myself. One minute I was alive, in a battle and the next i…" then he stopped, his heart plummeting. "I was dead"

They both stopped, he looked down and her heart dropped too. "I'm- I'm sorry" she started.

"no need, it was for a good cause. I'm a hero!" he said, perking up at that last bit "I'm a bloody hero! And no one knows! Haha, isn't that fantastic?" and he began walking toward the door. She followed him, asking more questions.

"what do you mean you're a hero? What did you do?" she asked, and he stopped. But before he could answer, two students came around the corner, and Rayne suddenly disappeared.

"oh, hey Wolfie, I heard you had a little accident in ports class today. You were having a fit or something!" the first one said, and the second walked behind her, stroking her ears.

Ii- I was merely sick. I'm b-better now." She stammered, quivering as the boy stroked her ears, she hated it when people touched her, especially her hair or ears.

"Oh, that's good, we wouldn't want our pet to be sick in our room tonight, now would we?" grinned the first boy, fiddling with the buttons on Notte's shirt. The two boys were part of Notte's team, they were sick, perverted boys who threw themselves on Notte sometimes, she was strong, but the two together were stronger.

"p-please, just leave me alone" she whimpered, looking at the ground. She longed to beat them, leave their bodies on the ground covered in blood, but after the first night, she realized she wouldn't be able to. She was a pet to them, they looked down on her and made her do all kinds of things for them.

"oh.. I think we're hurting the poor girls feelings. You think we should leave her alone Jon? Said the second. Jon replied with a laugh, and began undoing Notte's shirt "I say we take her right now."

Suddenly a hand came out of the shadows, grabbing Jon's. "And I think it's about time you two boys learned to treat women with a little respect!" roared Rayne, who had somehow disappeared into the shadows of the hallway.

Jon sneered at him, and tried pulling his hand away "hey kid, hasn't your mummy ever told yo-" and he stopped once he realized he couldn't break free.

"what did you say about my mum?" growled Rayne, walking closer to Jon, seeming to tower over him "and I am no kid, little brat, you might want to get your eyes checked." With that, he raised his fist, and brought it smashing into Jon's face, sending him sprawling to the floor.

Rayne pulled him back up, and threw two punches into his stomach, and let go of the kid, who was hunched over tearing up.

The second boy tried to swing at Rayne, but he merely blocked the swing, decked the boy in the jaw and kicked his legs out from under him, leaving him on the ground.

Suddenly, Notte swept in, kicking both boys in their crotch repeatedly, with much pent- up anger. After several blows, the boys were crying, and then Rayne stopped her from inflicting more.

"Wolfe, stop. I think they've learned their lesson, right boys?" said Rayne calmly. The two whimpered in reply, Jon tried to stand back up, but Rayne kicked him back down.

"bitch, you stay down until we leave the room. You are her bitches now, you got that? What she says goes." He growled at them, his smooth voice suddenly becoming venomous. The boys nodded in reply, holding their tenders watching the two.

Rayne started to walk away, then turned back to see Notte spitting on them. He chuckled to himself 'honour would be pleased.'

Suddenly it dawned on him, his team was supposed to wake him up! But if Notte had, then where was his team? He took off in a run, down the hall. Notte looked up to see him take off, then chased after him. "Rayne, wait!" and the two disappeared down the corridor.

The two boys still lay on the floor, holding themselves. The ultimate shame placed upon them, they didn't know what to do, so they laid there a while longer.


	3. Chapter 3: The Escape

Rayne ran down the hall, full speed. Students walking down the halls in the opposite direction being shoved aside, some crying out in anger. A disgruntled Notte following in his wake, muttering 'I'm sorry' to a few people, but she couldn't keep up with the rampaging Rayne. But she had an idea where he was going.

The airstrip was usually empty, only when there was a shipment coming in, carrying food and schools supplies for the students. Today happened to be one of those days. There was no real reason for the driver to have a close eye on it, so Rayne was able to just slip in, and began powering it up. He was about to take off when a wheezing Notte flumped into the ship.

"Oh, Wolfe! Were you following me? Why didn't you say?" he asked, leaning over to help her up. She meagerly punched his arm, too out of breath to answer and too tired to make it hurt. But Rayne played along, rubbing his arm and asking what it was for.

The sound of an airship powering up alerted the guards, who came running out into the clearing ordering them to stop.

"Sorry gents, but I don't have time to explain. I'll give it back in one piece; I hope!" Rayne yelled out the window. Having buckled Notte in, he took off, leaving the guards behind.

"Get back here you stupid punk kid!" yelled the guards, but by now the airship was out of reach. They went back inside to report what happened.

Rayne had heard what they said, and grumbled to himself "why does everyone think I'm a kid? I don't even look like one!"

"Actually, you kind of do Rayne" Said Notte, looking at him strangely. When he turned to looks at her with a bewildered expression, she delved further "How old are you?"

"well when I died, I was thirty- seven. By no means a kid." Notte paused after he said this. "But you look like a teen Rayne, seventeen at least."

"seventeen? No way! I haven't been seventeen in…" then he stopped, and it dawned on him. "in twenty years"

"and how long were you dead?"

"..twenty years.. but how is that possible?"

"how is it possible to come back from the dead?"

"touché, but I was in special circumstances. I knew I would back, I guess I never knew how it would end up." And at this, Rayne stopped and thought deeply. Notte pondered this, not much about this man seemed to make sense, and the things he said weren't adding up, but something about him made her feel safe, like a small child in their favourite blanket.

"but… how did you know you would be back?" she asked, trying to clarify the situation, but Rayne merely shrugged, adding "I just did I don't… I…" and he trailed off, muttering to himself. Notte backed off, perhaps the moment was too upsetting for him, perhaps his 'death' was too fresh in his memory, and he needed time to mull it over. So they sat in silence for a little bit.

They flew over the rooftops of Vale, the setting sun glimmering across the water, broken up by passing clouds. For Notte, this was more amazing then when she rode in on the big carrier. It seemed like a lifetime ago for her, the past few months with the two boys had been a living hell for her. But she had undergone worse.

They both drifted into the past, but for Rayne, this train of thought was bringing him to where he needed to go. He had flown the skies of vale many times, but over twenty years, much had changed. Particularly; a large clock tower that was in front of them.

"Rayne… that tower" started Notte, eyes wide. "Rayne…. RAYNE!" grabbing his arm and snapping him back into the present. They screamed in unison, and Rayne pulled the throttle, pulling them up into the air, narrowly avoiding it, but making them hunch back in their seats, hearts pounding.

"What… THE HELL MAN!" Notte screamed, punching Rayne for real. Rayne did not answer, but had his eyes glued out the window. Suddenly he did not feel safe flying anymore, so he steered toward the docks. They touched downkj the airship on a pier not too far away.

As the airship powered down, Rayne spoke. "That… that's new Wolfe…"

"Not that new, it's been up as long as I remember." Rayne looked at her, and she added "I'm 16"

"A little young for beacon, aren't you?" Rayne asked, his heart calming. She glared at him, and he looked away. "Let's ditch this thing, it can be tracked."

"Tracked?" Notte's face lit up, ears standing straight up.

"Yeah, all beacon airships are monitored, traced along flight paths, and have a locator beacon… standard issue" Said Rayne, climbing out of the cockpit. Notte followed him "why are you following me, Wolfe? Beacon is a good school, you should have stayed."

"Well after what went down in the hall, I might be kicked anyways. Fighting is not permitted in beacon, especially when it ends up with two kids bleeding out on the floor."

"Eh, they had it coming. People- I use that term lightly- people like that deserve a special place in hell. Oh, If my friend Honour had seen that, they would be dead for sure." Rayne said, stepping out of the airship and breathing in the air. "Ahh… the ocean. And if I'm not mistaken, the shack is right… this way" feeling the wind on a finger he had wet, he moved down along the pier, towards the end, where it dropped off suddenly, broken from many storms and high waves.

As they reached it, Rayne jumped into a hole that was almost unnoticeable, hidden by grass and broken boards. He looked up at Notte, who was wearily edging along the pier, not sure if she should jump.

"C'mon gal, I'll catch you!" Rayne said, holding up his arms. Suddenly, sirens could be heard approaching, pulling up to the airship. She looked back, eyes filled with fear, and without a second thought; jumped into the hole.

Rayne was not prepared, having been distracted by the sirens, he let his guard down. she landed on top of him, almost straddling him, and forced him to the ground.

"Sorry!" she yelped, climbing off him, hands over her mouth.

"Gah, it's ok. I caught you, didn't I? heheh" he chuckled and stood up. "This way, I'm sorry, but it's not the cleanest place to walk through, but the shack is very well hidden, thirty-five years and no one knew of its location. Let's hope it stayed that way" And with that, he led his way through a tunnel, which dropped into an old sewer system. The line had broken, and since it was so close to the shore, the city had built the new one further in, no more sewage ran in this tunnel now, but the smell lingered.

The pair sneaked along the tunnel, the dim light blocked by their bodies. Rayne rounded a corner, and suddenly was hit by a beam of light.

"Stop! Don't move!"


	4. Chapter 4: Unsettling signs

"I said don't move! Can't you listen? Stop! Freeze! Halt! What are you doing?! Stooooppppp!"

A voice that had started strong and forceful suddenly became pleading and frightened, as Rayne approached the light, grabbing it from its owner and shining it in their face.

"Ok, who are you? And how did you get down here?" Rayne demanded, pushing the person into a wall.

"Put that light out and I'll tell you! I'm sorry! Don't hurt me!" they pleaded, cowering on the ground. Rayne did not back down, beaming the light down at the cowering figure, menacing over him. Notte chimed in "Rayne, look, he's scared. Let's show them we mean no harm."

"Yes, yes! Listen to the lady! Please!" cried the man, looking up a little bit. Rayne stayed in position for a second, then turned away the light after Notte put her hand on his shoulder, but he didn't turn it off.

"Ok, who are you?" he demanded again, and the person uncurled from their ball. It was a shrewd man, covered in rags and very dirty.

"My... my name is… is… I don't remember" he stammered, racking his brains. Something about him made Rayne uneasy, which he did not like.

"How can you not remember your name? What did you do, hit your head?" Rayne barked, making the man flinch.

"I have bad memory… I can't hold down very much. Sometimes I'll be walking and don't remember where I am. I'm sorry, it's just so dark and scary… and I heard your voices."

"We didn't mean to startle you, we we're just coming down here to-" started Notte, trying to calm the man, who suddenly burst out in anger

"What? No, these are my tunnels! I found them first! Mine, MI-" he yelled, and was cut off when Rayne flicked up the light into his face, an angry look upon his face. As the man re-curled, Notte couldn't help but chuckle.

"We were just trying to find a passage, one you probably haven't found yet. It was hidden for a reason. Now, we'll be on our way. Go back to… whatever it is you do" and with that Rayne turned away and started back down the tunnel. The man stood up, but still kept his distance from Rayne.

"Secret passage? Noooo no no no, I've been down every passage. No secrets here" clambered the man, wringing his hands and following the two strangers. Rayne walked a few more feet then stopped.

"If so, then what is this?" he asked the man, and pulled a door out of nowhere. It creaked loudly, for it had not been opened in a long time. The man stared at it, eyes wide. Then he said quickly "I hadn't noticed that before."

"Of course, it was hidden very well. Only those who know it's here would know. Took us a while to figure it out ourselves, but it's an old service hatch. Don't know what was in it before, everything was gone when we moved in." said Rayne, moving the door back and forth, breaking apart all the dirt and ooze that had built up on the hinges.

Rayne climbed in, it was a small drop to the floor from the doorway, but manageable. Inside, the room was in a mess. Everything was torn up, there had been shelving built along the walls, those had been smashed. The couch was overturned, it's stuffing ripped out.

Lifting up the rug in the middle of the room, Rayne pulled up a trapdoor, and from the trapdoor he pulled out a chest. He rummaged through it for a moment, then pulled out two objects. To Notte, they looked like two small hatchets, but the handle was weird… like a barrel.

"This reminds me… Notte, did you bring your weapon?" asked Rayne, sheathing the weapons onto his belt.

"Umm… no, they're still at beacon, in my equipment locker." She said, looking down "will I be able to get them? They're all I have left" she added, strong emotions surging from the sentence. Rayne simply nodded.

The little man was rummaging through the broken shelves, when he found something he let out a little "oooh…" and continued. Rayne watched him, then after strapping on a large metal gauntlet; he cleared his throat loudly, grabbing the attention of the man.

"Hey… Rupert. You can have this place; I think you'll find it nice and comfy, even in this state. But what is left in this trunk, you may not touch. You understand?" the last bit he declared with more force than was necessary, making the man squirm again "y-yes… I understand" he whimpered.

With that in mind, Rayne motioned Notte to go back up the stairs, he followed her.

"And one more thing Rupert, Forget we were here, ok?"

"Who was here?" asked the man, genuinely confused.

"Exactly, ok goodbye." And with that, Rayne closed the door, and pointed down the tunnel. "Ok Notte, I know a secret way into Beacon, we'll get your stuff back for sure.

"Rayne, what happened in there?" asked Notte, looking back at the door.

"Either someone was looking for something, or someone was really mad. Either way, that safe house is no longer safe, we can never go back there."

"what do you mean?"

"did you see the sign on the wall? A brown spider looking emblem?" Rayne stooped suddenly, turning around to ask Notte that question.

"umm… I don't think so" she thought, but she could have sworn she saw nothing

"Exactly, just like the door, it can only be seen if you were looking for it. It's hidden behind an illusion, and once you've had proper training, you can sense if an illusion glyph has been placed somewhere. It's one thing Beacon will never teach you." Rayne continued down the hall "now I don't know when that sign was written, but either way, it's the symbol of my enemy. Arachnid.


	5. A Dark Past part 1

"Tell me Rayne. What's your story?"

Notte and Rayne were walking down the streets of Vale. Their plan was to follow the old sewer line out to the other side of Vale and cut across the bluffs all the way to Beacon, but Rayne got hungry. While munching on a large sandwich, Rayne looked at Notte as she asked him.

Swallowing; he replied "my story?"

"yes. Who are you? where are you from? What are you doing? And how the hell did you come back from the dead?!" Rayne stopped, looked up into the black sky and closed his eyes. After a few minutes, he let out a deep sigh, and continued walking, but much slower.

"well, it's complicated. I could tell you a long story about it, but to be honest, I don't think it would help. Probably make you more confused. But I will tell you this; I, many many years ago, was part of a team called team SLVR. It was made up of my twin sister; Silva Ignacious, Lavender Honour, Verdance, And myself. We met at beacon, and after graduating, decided to continue working together as a task force, like a specialist group. We fought grimm on the frontiers, but were often called in by the police to fight domestic crime, like an old Pirate ring."

"Pirate ring? Pirates are real?" Notte was interested by this thought, imagining stolen treasure and chests overflowing with gold.

"Oh yes, very real. They started a riot in vale once, but it got shut down rather quickly. They mostly stole dust shipments, harassing fishermen, and importing illegal weapons and black market items. The Leader was executed actually, by Lavender. She lobbed his head straight off with one swing."

"wow, this lavender sounds strong"

"oh yes, she had to be. She was raised on the streets after her parents were murdered by the white fang." Notte stopped, and looked at Rayne as he mentioned the White fang. Memories surged inside her mind, memories from her past… but there were more. At the mention of the White Fang, images sprang into her mind, but they weren't hers.

"are… are you ok Wolfe?" asked Rayne, stopping and putting his hand on her shoulder. She snapped out of her trance, then shoved his hand away. "don't touch me, please."

"oh, ok I'm sorry, you just kind of zoned out, you looked like you were about to be ill."

"no, I'm fine. Please, do continue" Notte did feel like she was going to be ill, but she tried to but on a strong expression, she hated looking weak.

"right… ok so we were in a settlement called New Haven; a brand new settlement, taken from the claws of the Grimm. We were hoping to set up a new kingdom there, the first in centuries. but then suddenly we were besieged by grimm, but not normal grimm. These ones weren't just attacking, they were flanking, ambushing, using guerilla tactics in the forest to stop our income of trade and food. They acted like an army: an army of Grimm."

"wait.. wait. They are just animals! How could the Grimm ever do something like that?" Notte was drawn in, this was more interesting than anything professor Port had taught her.

"we asked ourselves the same thing, and as time went on, they got more and more aggressive. Until one day, they were hurling large rocks out of a catapult."

"A WHAT?!"

"_Yes! _We were just as shocked. We had to send out teams to destroy it, the battle was brutal. My team led the attack; but we were woefully unprepared. The Grimm fought like soldiers with real combat training; although it was basic training at best. But what they lacked in skill they made up for in sheer Beastial power; smashing and slashing with claws and tusks. But it was not until after the battle when we gathered our wounded did we realize it would not end."

"you mean to tell me, there were more?! I think you're making this up. Is this a joke?" Notte snarled, she felt like he was pulling her tail, but as she looked into his eyes as he stopped to look at her, did she realize he was honest.

"yes, it is true. Every word I say is true." He said calmly, and started walking again. He did not start up where he left off, because he wanted to let it all sink in to Notte, let the gravity of the situation dawn on her.

They walked along the street, which were surprisingly empty. As they walked along, they would pass a random person; some who would try to give them an ad to a store or a pack of tissues, which Rayne grabbed up eagerly.

"ok… I think I understand so far" began Notte "tell me more about these special Grimm"

"ok, well after that battle, we were left in peace for a while. We guessed the Grimm had decided we were too big a target, or they were withdrawing to gather more troops. But we were preparing either way. Watches were set up, large cannons were flown in and installed along the walls. More weapons and troops arrived daily. We would fight to the death for New Haven, make a stand against the Grimm to show we were mightier. But all our preparations were in vain."

"how so?"

"Do you know what the most significant advantage a hunter has over the Grimm?" asked Rayne, suddenly stopping again and staring deeply into Notte's eyes, who could not break the connection, so she stood there saying 'umm…umm'

"The greatest strength man has over the creatures of Darkness is in that which they lack. It is not in weapons, for even our strongest weapons can fall futilely against the thick armour of say a Deathstalker. It is not in the use of dust; for that is something we use to merely even the odds, and even a Grimm can come to be able to use dust like they can a weapon. It is in our aura that we overcome the Wrath of Grimm. A strong aura can make a strong warrior, and one who knows how to use it as a shield or weapon to great extent can be unstoppable."

"I don't think that is necessarily true- I've never seen an aura used as a weapon before"

"It is a lost art, almost completely lost in time. But with aura, we are strong, and for all of time, it has kept us from falling freely into the claws of Grimm. But one night for the first time in history, the Creatures of Grimm had that which they lacked for so long."

"a-are you saying what I t-think you're saying?"stammered Notte, eyes wide with horror.

"The creatures of Grimm had an aura, yes."


	6. A Dark past part 2

Notte stood in the street, staring at Rayne in disbelief. Not only had Grimm learned to use weapons and dust, but they also had Aura! Humanity must have looked so small and insignificant now, easy prey for them.

"But... what happened? How did you survive?" she squeaked

"ha, luck. Skill. The desire to live outweighed everything else. New Haven fell, we destroyed a large portion of the army with our cannons, but we were outmatched. Nevermores descended upon us, our airships were unable to fend them off, and our cannons were destroyed. Their weapons broke down our walls, and after that it was a slaughter. With an aura in them, the Grimm were stronger than ever, but luckily they did not know how to use it to its full extent, but it did not matter."

"wow… I so so sorry" Notte said softly, seeing Rayne looking downcast, she tried to comfort him.

"some of us managed to escape, we had to get to vale to sound an alarm, we did not believe the Grimm army would stop there, but there was only one way to get an army that large across the mountains, and we got to the pass first. We set up explosives across the ridge, and as the army arrived, we entombed them under tons of rock, stopping them and saving the rest of the world from the threat."

"oh, wow! That was smart thinking. I guess that would make you and your team a hero!"

"oh yes, big damned heroes. But the army brass told us to keep it quiet, I'm not sure what they used to cover up a settlement being destroyed, but they sent us back out there to find the source of the army, where they came from." Rayne stopped there and sighed. Memories flowing through his mind, he turned around and sat on a bench, cupping his head in his hands.

Notte sat next to him, she didn't know what to say, she just sat there looking at him. She was never any good at the whole cheering people up deal, mostly because she stuck to herself, meaning the only person she needed cheering up was herself.

But there was a time when she couldn't dare be alone, a time when there was another person in her life who, with one word, could change her mood instantly. But those days were gone, and as Notte thought about it, a tear ran down her face. Quickly wiping it away, she looked away, so Rayne could not see it.

Suddenly he started up again. "it was many long seasons, remnants of the army ran across the valley, leaderless. Or so we thought. After many unsuccessful tries, we managed to pull information out of one Grimm-"

"wait, what? How did you pull information out of him?"

"he told us…"

"you made a grimm talk?"

"no, Lavender made him squeal. I'm ashamed we had to stoop to torture, but it was for the survival of-"

"wait wait wait wait…. So a grimm actually _spoke_ to you?"

"ooooohhh, yes yes. Well… kind of. Their speech is rough, crude even, but if you ignore the grunts and snarls you can make out words. We figured that out after… a couple years of scouting them."

"It took you years to track them down?"

"well… that's complicated, we tracked them down, but we kept finding more and more, and a lot of them weren't even in the valley. We tracked them back towards vale, which is kind of weird, but ill explain in a moment."

"ok… I still can't believe they talk!"

"yeah, it took us by surprise too. We often made jokes that the beasts made more noise than Verdance!" and at that, Rayne burst into laughter. Notte started at him, frowning.

"ok… ok you'll understand once you meet him. But yeah, we hunted them down in the valley, but we realized there were new ones, just wandering in. so we started tracking the source. Turned out, in a cave in the Emerald foothills, there is this Craaazy psycho scientist by the name of arachnid. He had been experimenting with Grimm, turning them into Hybrid grimm-humans. All the bestial strength of a Grimm, but with the intelligence and Aura of a human. This man had been building an army to destroy all of humanity"

"what?!"

"yeah, total whacko, but his science was sound. He even turned himself into a hybrid, a huge brown spider- which he turned into his logo, which I saw back in the shack."

"how does he do his… science stuff as a spider?"

"oh, his torso is human, just covered in a hard exoskeleton. Which made it hard to kill him, and yes we did kill him." Rayne added that last part with a growl, emotions showing though his words.

"that's good… I'd hate to think he is still around, creating an army to destroy all of humanity. How did you kill him then?"

Rayne looked at her, a piercing glare cutting her, suddenly she felt like she was walking on a grave, and she mumbled sorry and looked away. She felt embarrassed, she had gotten carried away in the tale, too eager to hear more. They walked in silence a little ways more, then Rayne spoke up again.

"It's ok. I guess I'll have to talk about it sooner or later, and why not with you?" Notte looked up, still feeling a little embarrassed, she merely said ok.

"well, we found his lair, and a fight ensued. He had a guard force of sorts protecting him, and while we fought them, he stood across a chasm, watching us. I think he knew we were outmatched, so he didn't feel the need to try to run away, but we needed to get rid of him. I did the only thing I could do: I used my powers to set the whole room on fire, all of it, in a huge firestorm. The fire burnt up the wooden supports, and caused the cave to crumble, but there was no way out. I couldn't even save myself, and that is where I died, in that cave. But I died watching my enemy burning in my fire, unable to go anywhere, and fall into the chasm. And then… i… i.." Rayne choked, he couldn't talk anymore, for him it was still too soon, the memories felt as if it happened yesterday, or was it? His memory was foggy suddenly.

"oh… im so sorry Rayne, I… if you want to talk im… uhh" Notte tried to sound helpful, but Rayne put his finger up to his lips, shushing her. Notte didn't understand most of what he had said, it was as if parts were missing, she didn't get the full picture.

As she thought this, Rayne was thinking the same thing. He had the battle in his mind, but things were slipping away… and the more he thought, the more they seemed to not make sense, and it infuriated him. Inside he was raging, his heart and mind racing, he just couldn't remember! '_why can I not remember?! I can't think! It's all fading away now, what is going on? Am I losing my memory? Am I going mental?_

Suddenly, Rayne let out a roar of anger, kicking over an innocent trashcan, he ran off into the night. It took Notte a few seconds to realize what happened, but the shock rooted her in place, and she watched him run off.

"Rayne.."


	7. Chapter 7: Turmoil of the mind

Rayne awoke one morning, not knowing where he was. He tried to rub his eyes, but realized he couldn't move them. He looked down to see what was causing this, and was struck with disbelief. He was in a straight jacket.

"Wha-?" he struggled in it, the sudden realization of his situation causing immediate claustrophobia and panic, his heart raced. He began to yell for help, rolling on the floor like a madman unable to cope with the situation.

As he rolled on the floor, a caretaker had called for the doctor, who came in a rush. For this doctor, this was the first sign of activity since he was admitted. When he got there, he looked inside, watching this strange man rolling around, screaming and shouting, trying to break free of the jacket.

After a minute, Rayne stopped, thinking about how this might look. He took several deep breaths, trying to calm himself, but it was hard. He hated being confined like this, it was unnatural and panic- inducing, but he knew he couldn't break out, not like this.

The doctor walked in, calm expression on his face, but he had brought two caretakers with him, who stood silently in the corners of the room, watching Rayne.

"And how is our guest today? I see we are awake finally; this is good, very good." His accent was strange, evidentially not from vale, more like someone from, the northeast, and he pronounces all his 's' like 'z'.

"I would be fantastic, if only I weren't being confined like a estranged madman!" Rayne was furious again, a panic attack felt close, and the claustrophobia ever so clear and present, but he held it back.

"oh, but you see sir, when you came in you were behaving like one. You bit an attendant who brought you in, and were yelling nonsense! We drugged you- twice. The first batch did not seem to have any effect, and the second only calmed you enough to but this jacket on, but not much more. You rumbled and roared in here for two days- straight! And then you finally collapsed, and here we are; a week later."

"Wait… I don't remember any of this. And you're saying I slept a week straight?!" Rayne's anger turned to shock; such a thing was not possible! He would need sustenance at some point, unless they fed him through tubes.

"yes, even asleep you still caused a racket though, muttering in your sleep. Sleepwalking, yelling at people in your dreams…" The doctor trailed off, Rayne was no longer listening. When he mentioned dreams, something in the back of Rayne's mind nagged at him, but for the life of him, he couldn't remember what.

"Well? Are you going to answer the question sir?" the doctor frowned down at Rayne, who had spaced out and was staring at the shoes of a caretaker.

"I'm sorry, what was the question? I was trying to remember what happened."

"I asked, what is your name?" the doctor began writing down something on his notepad he had brought with him, shaking his head.

"My name is… Rayne Ignacious."

"And your age? Place of birth? Any family members you would like to contact?"

"I'm… well I don't really know how old I am. Do you age if you die? Or does it just stop?" the doctor raised an eyebrow and peered over the top of his notebook at Rayne, trying to see if he was kidding, but Rayne was serious. "No really, I'm dead serious."

"Well it would depend on how long you were dead."

"I think it was about twenty years, but I don't remember what year it was when I died, I was estimating twenty years." The doctor choked, dropping his pencil and having a coughing fit. A caretaker rushed over, patting his back and holding him steady.

Rayne looked at the door; it was closed now, but probably not locked. The second caretaker watched him, and Rayne realized that if he tried to make a run for it, the caretaker would easily cut him off. Not to mention there was an issue with no hands, so he couldn't open the door even if he wanted to. "Sir, can I be let out of these restraints? I promise not to bite anyone; I just can't stand being tied up." Rayne asked once the doctor stopped coughing. The doctor looked at him, and as he bent over to pick up his pencil, he answered "we shall see" and continued with his questions.

Meanwhile, on the other side of vale, Notte sat in an office. A nice wooden office, filled with medals, plaques, and paintings of different people. Notte had been sitting there almost an hour, her wait was only supposed to be a few minutes, but yet the person she was waiting for had not shown up.

She thought over what had happened the past week or so. After she watched an angry Rayne run off into the night, she was approached by several people. They asked her about Rayne, but Notte decided against answering, so they took her to… wherever she was now. She had spent a week in a large mansion or big building; she wasn't sure which it was. So far all she had seen was this office, a long hall, one single bedroom, and the entranceway.

The people she ran Into had all come back to try to get her to talk, aside from one individual. One person, a beautiful silver-haired lady, had tried striking up a friendship in an effort to get her to talk, but Notte was silent. Despite this, the lady had been nice to her, occasionally striking up a conversation unrelated to Rayne.

Notte didn't know why she was defending this man, who in one day had ruined her career, made her crawl through sewers, and then ran off into the night, after telling her outrageous stories. She just felt that he needed time, but she doubted she would see him again. A shame really, because he was pretty cute, for a dead guy.

Suddenly the door burst open, making Notte yelp aloud and scattering her thoughts.

"My apologies miss Wolfe, I did not mean to scare you. And forgive my tardiness." Said the man she had stormed into the room. Notte was speechless, for in front of her was the Beacon headmaster: Professor Ozpin.

"I-its ok h-headmaster" Stammered Notte, eyes wide with excitement and nervousness.

"Oh, please. No need for formalities miss Wolfe, call me Ozpin. And since you mention it; I am sorry to announce I am no longer your headmaster."

"E-excuse me?" Notte was confused, was Ozpin sacked?

"You broke school policy, leaving two students bleeding out in a hallway. They were treated for their injuries, and were expelled as well. We know what they did, but on both ends; irresponsible." Notte's heart dropped. Beacon was the best thing that could have happened to her, and now it was gone.

'_Fuck you Rayne! This is your fault! If I see you again, I'm going to kick your ass!"_

"But do not worry Miss, I have found new teachers for you, and you have been cleared on the terms of self-defense. It will go in your permanent record, but it will not be a black mark, so you can still be a Huntress"

Notte perked up "Oh, really?!" her eyes wide again "who are these trainers?"

"I think you have already met them. Silva! Lavender! Verdance! You can come in!" Ozpin hollered, and the door swung open. The people who had approached her in the streets walked in, the silver haired lady beaming with happiness.

"Hello Wolfe, pleasure to see you again" Said Silva, the silver haired lady who had been chatting with Notte throughout the week. Notte nodded in reply, but her eyes were drawn to the man in a green garb, with a green masks and hood covering his face. He seemed familiar, like she had seen someone like him before, or heard about someone like him.

"well Notte, it's nice to meet you too. Again. My name is lavender, but do call me Honour, I hate my name." said the second lady, a strong, black-haired pale-skinned lady.

"Hello Honour, and do call me Wolfe, not Notte. I hate my name." replied Notte. Honour looked at Verdance, and elbowed him, making him stumble into a chair, telling him "I told you I wasn't the only one!"

The man, Verdance, rolled his eyes. Even though his face was covered, one could tell he was smiling. Honour spoke up again, saying "and this chum is Verdance. He doesn't speak, so I kind of have to introduce him, but he's pleased to meet you! Greet her, man!"

Verdance obliged, sticking out his hand. Notte took it, but instead of shaking it, he pulled her in, and whispered into her ear "One cannot tell the depth of the river until they see the bottom." And let go. Notte was about to ask what he said, when his glare cut her off.

"Hahahaha! Vers, don't scare to rookie off already! We haven't even begun our training!" Honour had no idea that verdance had said anything, and she probably never would.

"Wait, training?" asked Notte, suddenly realizing what had been said.

"Yes! We start tomorrow!" replied Silva, walking up to Notte and placing her hand on Notte's shoulder.

"How do you know I'm going to say yes?"

"Well are you saying no? Are you giving up?" Silva let go of her, a questioning look on her face.

"Well, no! I…" Notte was looking around franticly; she hadn't expected to be doing anything. She had no idea what 'training' meant.

"Well there you have it! We'll get you started tomorrow! Don't worry; we'll start you off easy." And suddenly a beep went off behind them. Notte had forgotten about Ozpin, who had been sitting behind her at the desk. He stood up, turned off the beeping and cleared his throat.

"If you will excuse me, sleeping beauty has awoken."

"Hopefully he won't bite you again Oz, that took some stitching." Chuckled Honour, Ozpin merely shook his head and walked out of the room. Silva suddenly burst out of the room to follow him, but Ozpin stopped her.

"Silva, I know he is your brother, but the shock of seeing you might cause him to relapse. We need to ease him in slowly, but you will be the first one he sees, I guarantee you." He said, trying to calm down Silva. She was obviously disappointed, but she backed off, walked back into the room and sat down on a chair, letting out a deep sigh.

"Was that Rayne you were talking about?" chimed in Notte after a moment of silence, suddenly everyone looked to her, Silva jumped up from her chair and flew to Notte's side. "Yes! What do you know about him? What happened?"

_**Authors note!**_

_**Well instead of putting out two chapters I guess I'll put out one.**_

_**Any who; I'd like to know how I'm doing! So if you're reading this, I encourage you to put in some feedback. Reviews are awesome for people starting out, but as far as I know I'm doing nothing wrong, everything is perfect, and you all love my work.**_

_**If you have questions, concerns, or insults; please let me know! I'll try not to be too distraught I you think this sucks, at least ill know.**_

_**Yeah well blah blah blah, I'll try to release chapters on an…. Even basis. But some nights I come home from work and feel like SHIT, so I don't try to type, I'll just watch TV.. or eat or whatever. So if you like this, just check every day for an update, but I'll always release around the same time, or try to. **_

_**Welp I'll stop jabberin and let you guys go. And again, don't be afraid to review! Criticism is appreciated!**_

_**~Frakker Tucker**_


	8. Chapter 8: Mental breakthrough

Rayne was alone again. The story he had told the doctor made him think Rayne was mentally unstable, therefore he would not be let out, but at least the straight jacket was removed. The doctor thought this would keep him calm, as Rayne became increasingly aggressive when he had it on.

With the exception of one random visitor and the doctor's checkups, Rayne sat in solitude. The minutes felt like hours, and hours felt like days. Rayne would sit in a corner, thinking to himself. He wanted out, to be free of this white room, to see the sun or breathe in fresh air again. While he had not been in the cell for very long, it seemed forever.

_Forever_

That word nagged him, as if something in his memory was trying to work its way up, aroused by the word. But what did it mean? Why could he not remember? He couldn't remember what he had forgotten, but the feeling that it was important frustrated him. What Rayne really wanted though, was a distraction. And then the knock came at the door.

"Hello Mr. Rayne, it is good to see you today." The doctor was back, accompanied by his caretakers and his clipboard. Rayne replied with silence and a glare, intent on showing the doctor how he felt without words. "I heard you refused your dinner last night, may I ask why?" the doctor motioned to the upturned tray in the far corner of the room, which Rayne had actually wanted to eat, but the confinement in this cell had erupted, and he had thrown it across the room.

"I wasn't hungry" Rayne replied darkly after a brief pause, and as if on cue his stomach growled. The doctor chuckled slightly, and snapped his fingers. A third caretaker came in with another tray, and placed it by Rayne. Rayne stared at it, as if it were a trap, and if he were to take it, it would do something.

"Feel free to eat Mr. Rayne, I wouldn't want you feeling any worse."

"I don't eat when people are watching" said Rayne, hoping the people would leave him alone so he could eat, but they didn't.

"Well we all have to do things that make us uncomfortable from time to time" said the doctor, moving closer to Rayne. Rayne suddenly became uncomfortable, and began scooting away, but found his way blocked by the wall. The doctor was right next to him now, but then he squatted down, so he was face to face with Rayne. He couldn't take it anymore; Rayne punched the doctor in the face, making him reel backwards. The caretakers rushed forwards, one aiming to help the doctor, and the other aiming to pin Rayne.

The caretakers were huge, and while Rayne was a big guy too, they towered over him. Rayne jumped up, landing a kick in the chest of the caretaker, causing the second to leave the doctor and fight Rayne. With blurring speed, Rayne landed a palm- strike into the face of the second caretaker, causing blood to spray out of his now-broken nose. The caretaker brought his hands to his face, and Rayne roundhouse-kicked him in the side of the head toward the first caretaker, flinging them across the room.

While the padded cells provided cushion and did not render the men unconscious; they were still dazed, and Rayne was able to escape the room, locking them inside.

The third caretaker was strolling along the hall, pushing a trolley of dirty dishes to the kitchens to be cleaned when he heard the commotion from down the hall. He turned around to see someone running towards him, thinking it was the doctor. But as the figure came closer, he saw it was in fact one of the inmates, but he reacted too late. Rayne barreled into him, knocking the trolley into the wall and sending the caretaker flying over it.

Rayne took this opportunity to grab the man's keys, for he figured the doors to the outside would be locked. As he picked them up, the door from his cell burst open, the doctor screaming down the hall for Rayne to stop, and the two men charging towards him. Rayne took off again, turning down a hall, down a flight of stairs, but not knowing where he was going.

Rayne had never seen any of the building, nor the outside, and he couldn't find any windows. His only chance was to outrun and outmaneuver his pursuers. Suddenly an alarm went off, ringing echoing down the halls. Rayne knew he was running out of time, he needed to get out by any means necessary. He took off up the stairs, and continued. He burst out of the roof doors, and it slammed against the wall with a loud bang, and the air from outside rushed in. he looked out at the view, seeing vale in the distance, but everything between vale and where he was was all water. Was he in the ocean?

Rayne did not recall an island in Vale harbor, but he could be mistaken. Rayne went to the edge, to see how far it was to the water, if he needed to jump. As he looked over the edge, his jaw dropped. Not only was the ocean very far down, but also there was a large expanse of nothing below him. He wasn't on a building; he was on an airship! A carrier, judging from the size.

"Ahah, so I see you have figured it out Mr. Rayne." The doctor was behind him, accompanied by more men this time. They spread out of the doorway, aiming to surround Rayne. He looked over the edge, and heard the doctor chuckle. "It is too far down for you to jump, it would kill you instantly. Please, come quietly and we will not have to put you back in the jacket."

"Like hell I'm going back. Look, I'm not crazy! I don't know what came over me, but I'm not crazy!"

"Yet you have no logical reasoning for what happened. We will require proof of your mental stability, and then we can discuss your release. But, do come inside. I'd hate to start something up here." The doctor had replied with a cool voice, trying to trick Rayne into a false sense of security, while his men loaded two guns with tranquilizer rounds, enough to take him out instantly. Rayne had seen the guns already, his keen perception letting him spot them, even though the caretakers had tried to hide them. Rayne was planning on waiting until they used them, and then make his move, so he did not answer.

"This is my last warning. Sir, come with us or we will have to take you by force. Do not make this harder than it has to be!" his cool tone had disappeared, and he was clearly getting angry.

"oh, but don't you know Doctor? I like doing things the hard way!" Rayne grinned, setting off the doctor, who gave the signal. Two caretakers raised up their guns, and fired at Rayne, who was suddenly not there anymore.

With a flash of light, Rayne descended upon the confused caretakers, his aura pulsing like a beacon, and fire forming in his hands. As he landed, sending the men flying across the roof, the fire consumed his body, then retreated. Now standing before them was Rayne, the true Rayne. He no longer wore the hospital gown, but instead his long coat was on, along with his goggles, leather gauntlets, shirt and breastplate, and heavy leather boots.

Rayne held a ball of fire in his right hand, walking slowly to the doctor, who stood in horror at what he saw.

"W-wha-what are you?" squealed the doctor, his voice full of panic.

"this is me, who I truly am. The part of me you cannot erase." Rayne sensed motion behind him, and turned to face the caretakers, who had regrouped and were charging at him. Rayne was in his zone now, fighting was his life, everything he ever wanted, and all he was. He dove into the group, quick as lightning, grabbing the first one by the arm, swinging him into the others. He ducked down, dodging a swing by one man, and jabbed another in the groin, then jumping up and driving his knee into the mans face. Another man tried to grab Rayne, but Rayne merely grabbed his arm, yanked down, and dislocated it. Rayne swept the feet out from two other men, then body slammed then, knocking the air out of them as Rayne rebounded and continued with the others.

The doctor watched in awe for a few minutes, after crawling away from the battle. Rayne was everywhere; all at once. Watching Rayne in the crowd was like watching lightning. One second he was there, and then he was gone, leaving a trail of fire in his wake. The more Rayne fought, the stronger the fire grew, until the caretakers couldn't stand the heat, and retreated away from the inferno of a man.

"Sir, this is your last warning" Rayne turned to the doctor, and next thing he knew he was staring down the barrel of a gun. Instinctively, Rayne reached for his, but they were not there, and he cringed.

"Now… put away the fire… and put your hands behind your back. Do it! Or I will fire!" Rayne did not comply, but instead prepared himself. He knew what he had to do, and he had to do it fast. The caretakers were regrouping again, at least the ones that could still fight.

"I will count down, and if you do not comply by one, you're dead. Three…" Rayne closed his eyes, picturing what he was about to do in his mind.

"two…"

His hand shook, the buildup he had in it was too much, even he couldn't stand the heat.

"one.. ARRGGHHHH!" the doctor screamed in pain, dropping the gun at Rayne's feet and running away; entirely ablaze. Rayne had focused a fireball in his hand, and at the last minute released the pent-up energy at the doctor.

The doctor was rolling on the ground now, screaming in pain, pleading for it to stop. No matter what this man was about to do, Rayne would never kill a man like this, unless he had to. He recalled the fire, making it dissipate from the man, who now lay motionless. Alive, yet scathed. Rayne turned towards the caretakers, who had stopped their advance, and now looked at Rayne in horror. Suddenly one man, not wanting to be set on fire, made for the doorway; and the others promptly followed.

Rayne watched them as they ran, to make sure they were gone, then knelt down beside the doctor.

"You will be fine, the burning will stop soon, and then you will be back to normal in a few days. Now tell me, how do I get off this thing?" the doctor was too weak to talk much, but he muttered something about an airship bay. Rayne patted his head, grabbed the doctors keys, and made for the bay. Something had clicked in his head, and he remembered what he couldn't before. He had to get to someone, to tell them what he knew. Rayne remembered his visitor, and whispered to himself. "Ozpin, I'm coming for you. You better be ready!"

_**Tell me how I'm doing!**_

_**I'm trying not to do dual parts now, so basically one chapter per… update or whatever. So that will be funner. so read up, and if you're feeling up to it; review it! Also if you have any questions or concerns. Think I'm copying someone's work or whatever, please ask me! I look forward to what you people have to say, you just need to say it!**_

_**~Tuckster**_


	9. Chapter 9: Reunion

Rayne was darting down the halls again, he had gotten turned around, but he figured if he kept moving he'd find his way eventually.

'_This is just a carrier, why are there so many halls?' _Rayne asked himself_, _the amount of halls he had been running through seemed impossible. He peered in doors as he ran past them, seeing people in cells like himself. Some sat in the corners, shivering and shaking, others were walking around, looking like they were muttering something to someone.

Finally he saw it, two huge double doors, at the end of the hallway. Rayne chuckled to himself, and started walking calmly to the doors, now all he needed to do was get an airship and-

WHAM

Rayne was thrown against the wall; something huge had come out of nowhere and slammed into him, sending him flying. Looking up, head still swimming, he saw two huge figures meandering down the hall towards him. As his vision cleared, he realized there were two huge mechanical monsters coming at him. He jumped up, pulling out the gun he had stolen from the doctor. Letting off two rounds, he looked to see the damage to the robots was minimal, and they continued forward.

They were a crude construction, while the plating was heavy and thick, it did not cover the whole body. Wires and tubes stuck out, and Rayne figured if he could pull enough out, they would be disabled. Rayne readied himself, plotting out a path he would take to execute his plan. He waited for them to get close, their huge footsteps making the hall tremble.

As they approached Rayne, he took off. He jumped against the wall and used at a springboard to land on the head of the first robot. He plunged his hand into a bunch of wires, and pulled. They didn't budge; they must have been reinforced to prevent this exact thing from happening. Rayne tried shooting at them with his gun, the bullets seared through the wires, but ricocheted back at Rayne as the hit the metal plating. Two rounds peppered his left arm, and he cringed in pain, but had to ignore it.

The second robot slowly turned to Rayne, and lifted its arm reaching toward the tiny figure on its comrades back, but Rayne jumped down, rolling on the ground as he landed. The two robots stopped, and then turned around again. Suddenly Rayne had an idea; these two were so slow they couldn't catch Rayne, as their metal plating held them back.

Rayne took off toward the doors, when he realized something was wrong. He turned his head to see two grappling hooks headed straight for him. Rayne ducked, as the first one flew over his head, and rolled past the second. A second pair was launched, hurtling down the hall at extreme speed, Rayne again dodged the first, but the second caught his coat, and began pulling him back. Rayne tore it off, and continued down the hall, having to leave his coat in the clutches of the robots, who merely threw it aside and fire a third volley, but Rayne was already at the doors, and the bounced against the doors harmlessly.

"damn, that was a good coat!" growled Rayne, walking amongst the airships. Some seemed to either be in the middle of assembling, or disassembling. Not many were even complete, let alone flyable. But Rayne was persistent, and there had to be one here somewhere; how else did he get on the ship?

He opened a second set of doors, and immediately a dozen pairs of eyes looked up at him, and they all stopped what they were doing. Rayne looked around at them, somewhere in the room a wrench dropped.

"I- I'm looking for a flyable airship. Is there one around here?"

"why do you ask?" called out someone from the back, Rayne had to think of something quickly.

"I- The doctor asked me to… pick up groceries! But all the ones in there seem to be broken." _There's no way they're going to buy that_ Rayne thought as they looked around to each other, murmuring.

"Well why didn't you say? Here, there's one right here. You must be the new guy, no worries, you'll figure out the place soon enough." One man from the crowd came forward, and motioned for the others to continue what they were doing. He grabbed Rayne by the shoulder, leading him the other way, and whispered into his ear. "I know who you are; you need to get out of here." Rayne was about to ask what he was talking about when the man shushed him, and pointed to an airship. It was an older model, but it looked intact. "One cannot tell the depth of a river until they see the bottom."

The last phrase confused Rayne, and he turned to look at the man, but he was already walking away. He shrugged and turned back to the airship. Suddenly the huge doors burst open, and a whole group of caretakers ran in, carrying guns. Rayne was powering up the airship in a hurry, and he could see the caretakers running into the room with the other people, as if Rayne had tried hiding in there, or maybe they were going to question them? But he had no time to wait; a second round with these guys was out of the question, especially with his arm still full of bullets.

The hanger doors were closed, and Rayne could not find a way to open them. There wasn't a lever or switch in the cockpit, so the doors must have a remote control somewhere else. He thought of what to do, maybe he could ram his way out. The doors weren't that thick, they were merely to keep the air from sucking everything out of the hanger bay, but Rayne couldn't know for sure.

Suddenly he heard gunshots, and the man who had helped him earlier ran out of the room, followed by two caretakers. They took him down as he ran; two shots to his back. Rayne realized it was time to go, for next they were going to check this ship, since it was probably the only one that worked. Rayne revved the engines, alerting the caretakers to his location, but he couldn't help it. Rayne moved forward, the airship was moving slowly, and he doubted if he could build enough momentum to break through. He pushed down harder, and suddenly the airship jolted forward, Rayne didn't let up, and the airship approached the doors.

He could hear the airship being peppered with bullets, but the caretakers little guns couldn't stop him now, and Rayne steered towards the doors, hitting them head-on. They buckled and burst open, but Rayne's little airship dropped straight down, not having a proper takeoff, and therefore not having the lift necessary for flight.

The distance between the ship and the ocean was vast, but Rayne closed the gap quickly, as he franticly pulled levers and pressed buttons, he just could not fly it! He had managed to turn up, and was gliding along the ocean winds, but that was leading him straight for a cliff, and that wasn't much better than the drink.

"Ground control calling unknown aircraft! You need to ignite the boosters! You're in the wrong seat!" a voice came over the comm. System, but Rayne did not question it. He moved to the right side of the airship, and then he realized what he was doing. He flipped on the boosters, and suddenly the ship moved forwards. He angled up, up over the cliff, and breathed a sigh of relief as he cleared it.

"That was close! What is with this ship?" Rayne asked the person over the comm.

"It's a foreign import; they fly differently in the eastern continent." The voice laughed in reply, Rayne was not so amused. He merely steered the ship towards the docks, wanting to get out of this deathtrap as soon as possible.

"I should thank you, whomever you are." Rayne said again over the comm., there was a brief pause, and then the voice replied "well don't you recognize my voice?"

"umm… well there's so much static, I can't really tell who's talking." Rayne felt a little embarrassed, the voice did sound familiar, but it was very hard to tell.

"Hahaha, just land on the docks, you'll see soon enough"

Notte had not had such training thrown on her s much as her new teachers had. She was used to sitting in class, and maybe being in the daily sparring class, which she hated because she was at a disadvantage. She was always paired with bigger boys, such as her ex-roommates or, in particular, this one kid with a big mace. She couldn't remember his name, or the name of his team, but she kept thinking of a bird when she thought about it.

Her new teachers threw her right in, she went toe- to- toe with Verdance, and Silva watched from the side, giving advice. Notte had yet to win a fight, but Verdance was surprisingly gentle on her, even though he could obviously kick her ass to the moon if he had wanted to.

They did some studying, mainly Notte researching the various histories of fighting styles and their strengths versus weaknesses. A good example was Honour and Verdance. Verdance was all about speed; outpacing his opponents and wearing them out. But Honour was brute force, while her speed wasn't as fast as Verdance, if she landed a single blow on him; he was most likely done for. Knowing this, they worked together. Honour learning about speed and verdance learning about strength, but never straying far from their true power; their auras.

Notte had never seen aura used in such a way. She had heard of a few people who used their auras to heal, and others who used it as a shield, but these people could manifest their aura like a weapon! Notte had seen Verdance use his aura to hold back a blow by Honour, and she in return clocked him with a burst of her aura, manifesting it into a fist form, and it felt no different than if she had done it herself. But they always claimed there was someone else who had mastered their aura in such a way, this person made it seem as if it were something else entirely. Notte was confused at this, but they merely said they'd explain it as time went on.

And time did go on, another week had gone by since Ozpin returned bearing terrible news that Rayne was gone, and the hospital could not tell how. Silva was in a rage for a few days, but she came out of it. Notte missed the crazy man, the one who had taken her on what was probably the single finest adventure she had been on, and then run off into the night.

Notte had tried to ask Ozpin what was wrong with Rayne, but he would merely shake his head and give some cryptic answer like: "if only we knew ourselves". This wasn't enough for Notte, but she couldn't think about it, she didn't want to.

Now, one day out of the blue, Silva had grabbed Notte by the arm, and dragged her into downtown vale.

"What's going on Silva?" Notte asked, but Silva only laughed and watched the sky. Notte looked at the sky as well, not knowing what to look for, but then out of nowhere something appeared, a tiny airship plummeted out of the sky across the harbor. Silva yelled into a headset she had, yelling instructions to whomever was in the airship, as if she knew exactly what was going on.

"how did you know they were in the wrong seat?" Notte asked, Silva smiled at her, but didn't answer. A voice eventually replied over the comm., and Silva gave the answer to both their questions.

"Hahaha, just land on the docks, you'll see soon enough" Silva laughed over the comm., and pulled onto the docks. They watched as the little ship approached the docks, coming in a little wobbly, but it touched down nicely, letting out a loud hiss as the doors opened. Notte and Silva got out of the car; Silva had a huge smile on her face. As they walked up to the ship, Silva took off, running to the ship and grabbing the man that had gotten off, who hadn't even gotten out of the ship, and was already getting attacked.

"I'm so glad you're back! I've missed you so much!" screamed Silva, hugging the breath out of Rayne, all he could do was let out a squeak and pat her back. Notte walked up slowly, not knowing what to say. Last she had seen of him, he was running off like a crazy person into the night.

"Wolfe! It's Rayne! He's finally back with us!" Silva cried, tears running down her smiling face.

"Sis, please, you're crushing me!" Whimpered Rayne, and she let him go, but still holding his arms and smiling at him. There was no mistaking how happy she was, like a child seeing a puppy for the first time.

Rayne looked at Wolfe, and his smile dropped. "Wolfe… I should probably owe you an explanation about what happened…" Rayne started, and Wolfe cut him off "Damn right you do! Leaving me in the streets like that, I didn't know what was happening; I didn't know what you were doing, or even where I was! You had no right to do that!" Rayne looked downcast, but he walked up to Notte and put his hands on her shoulders, looking into her eyes.

"I'm sorry Notte, I'm so very sorry. I don't know why I had a mental breakdown like that, but it's passed now. Please forgive me." She looked into his eyes, she could see it glowing, almost like fire. But not like a dangerous fire, more like a warm hearth, or a candle. Suddenly Notte broke down, and grabbed him, wrapping her arms around him.

"I guess that means you're forgiven" said Silva, softly punching him in the shoulder. Rayne smiled, and looked up at the boardwalk. Ozpin was standing there, silent and motionless, but his expression told Rayne he was not there to greet him, it was a solemn serious expression. Rayne knew something was happening, and he figured it was time to figure it out.

_**DUH DUH DUHHHHHH plot lines forming!**_

_**If you couldn't tell, not only will my chapters no longer be two parts like I started out doing, but I'm trying to grow them each week, as more and more of the plot comes to light you will see more and more of each chapter. To an extent obviously, tell me what you think! Read, review, and share with you friends, your family, and your pets (because they're always sooo interested in what you're reading)**_

_**Have fun, and don't forget to be awesome!**_

_**~Tuckster 2000**_


	10. Chapter 10: Reveals

"and then I flew back to the docks, and you know the rest!" Rayne had been retelling what he could remember from being on the ship, Ozpin silently nodding and adding an 'Mhm' here and there.

Ozpin thought for a second, then spoke "So how come we couldn't see the ship before? Now I've been getting reports of a black blotch floating around vale."

"Probably an illusion glyph, or a bunch of them. There must be a pretty powerful dust source on board to keep it up though, otherwise it would be impossible. My guess is when I broke through the bay doors, I also burst through the glyph, but whatever is up there is still maintaining the illusion." Rayne answered, he wasn't too sure of it himself, he rubbed his chin and looked away, thinking as he spoke. It was farfetched, but it seemed the only plausible explanation.

"you mean like the brown spider you were telling me about in the shack?" Notte piped up, and suddenly all eyes turned to her, the mention of the brown spider brought back memories to Rayne and Silva.

"what are you talking about?" asked Silva, and looked at Rayne, then back to Notte.

"Yeah, Rayne said he saw a brown spider disguised by an illusion glyph back in the old sewers. Don't you remember?"

"I'm sorry Wolfe, I still can't remember much of what happened that day, but it'll come back to me." Rayne petted Notte's head apologetically, but he looked at Silva, who nodded to him. Unspokenly, they had agreed they needed to check on the shack. They began walking that way, they were on the docks, and the shack was under them, so it wasn't that far.

The four of them walked along the piers, Ozpin asking Notte about the glyph, but since she couldn't see it, she couldn't answer his questions. After seeing this was a dead end, he hushed up and they walked in silence, until Rayne remembered something.

"Hey, Oz. didn't you visit me when I was in the cell? I seem to recall that, but that doesn't seem right.

"Well I did, I was there when they brought you into the actual hospital. I tried to calm you down and you bit me."

"did I really? I'm sorry." Rayne chuckled to himself at that, he did not recall any of that, so to him it was as funny as if he had gotten drunk and did it. Drunk stories were always the best stories.

"yeah. But a few days later I got a message saying to come check on you, I thought you had woken up, but they merely called me to tell me you were missing."

"it was unbearable. When I found out I was enraged, I demanded Ozpin search for you immediately, but we couldn't devote enough resources to something like that, until one of our spies tipped us off. Im sure you met him on the ship." Silva continued where Ozpin left off, her smile big and bright, happy she had her brother back. But when she turned to look at Rayne, she saw he wasn't thrilled, he looked almost sickened. "what's the matter?"

"I did meet that man, but before I could escape he was shot. I watched him as he was gunned down, and ran like a coward." He looked away from them, but he could feel them getting downcast too.

"well his position was not without danger, He knew the risks. I wonder how he got up there to begin with?" Ozpin asked, mostly to himself but loud enough for the others to hear.

"you mean you didn't know he was there?" Rayne was astonished at the thought

Silva quickly replied "no, we knew he was there. We just never figured out how. And I guess we never will"

"so you knew about the Ship, then why were you asking me about it? Or try to rescue me?"

"no no, Rayne we knew there was a ship, but we had no idea what it was intended for. And obviously the illusion glyph made it so we didn't know where it was, so we couldn't stage a rescue. We asked you about it because we needed details about the inside, and what was going on. Does that explain it?" Silva knew Rayne got frustrated when he was confused about something like this, so she tried to explain it all at once.

"But I thought Rayne said Illusion Glyphs could be seen by those who were expecting to see it… or something like that" Notte asked, chiming in finally.

"No. well… kind of. If you know something is out of place, or have that sense something is wrong, you can see it, if you've trained enough." Rayne started

"Wha…?"

"ok… have you ever walked into a room and felt like something was wrong? Sometimes you feel like you've forgotten something?" Notte nodded, so Rayne continued "Well with training, once someone feels that, they know there is something hidden, and can look for it. Usually the naked eye can see it, but our brains tend to overlook it, which is where the training comes in. we have trained our minds to pick out the slightest details, like a shimmer in a dull grey wall. But once our minds have realized something is wrong, it focuses on it, and the illusion is broken."

"So it's more of a mind trick than glyph magic?"

"I… yeah I guess you can see it that way." Rayne nodded to her, she was happy she understood what was going on finally.

They finally got to the jumping- off spot, Rayne leapt right in, followed by Silva, Notte, and finally Ozpin, after a brief pause. He was the only one who had never been down here, he knew about the old sewer lines, but didn't think there were any opening still unsealed.

A bright light suddenly shone on them, they all flinched and covered their eyes. Suddenly Notte screamed down the tunnel "Rupert! Put that light out right now!" the light went out, and the clammy man walked forward to the group.

"Y-you know my name? do I know you?"

"of course, Rayne and I were down here a couple weeks ago, we went into the secret room, remember? Notte said, walking to the front of the group.

"SECRET?! There are no secrets here! Just tunnels." But Notte was already walking past him, followed by the group. As Rayne walked past him, he looked at him for a second, as if he recalled the man, but after a few minutes he shook his head and walked away, leaving the clammy man wringing his hands backed against the wall.

Notte remembered the location of the door, but not how to open it, but Silva knew. Reaching into the darkness, she pulled out a door, and revealed the room.

"oh my! What happened to this place?!" Silva cried out, jumping into the room and looking at the mess. It was still a mess, but Rupert had moved in, so his stuff was here too, and when he landed in the room, he squealed in joy.

"My stuff! My stuff my stuff my stuff!" he jumped around in bliss, picking up a random piece of junk and hugging it joyfully. But the other four stared at the far wall with blank faces. Even Notte could see it now, knowing what to look for this time.

"Is it…?"

"yes. Absolutely."

"but it can't be, this wasn't here last time I was here"

"I've never seen it in person before… it really is quite chilling." Ozpin shivered, Notte just looked at him, questioningly asking : "all it is, is a brown spider."

"it's not the spider that makes it chilling, it's what it represents!"

"That… brown guy Rayne was telling me about before he went and lost his marbles?"

"oh, so I told you some of that?"

"a little bit, it didn't make sense though" Notte shook her head, she could still picture the night in her head, even though Rayne couldn't.

"Come on, let's get out of here" Rayne suggested, and silently they left the room, leaving Rupert happily skipping around the room singing to himself.

"So how much did I tell you, that you actually understood?" Rayne asked her, as they made their way back outside.

"I kind of understood the Mutant grimm attacks in the… valley I think it was?"

"ahh… that was just the beginning. Let me try to tell you the whole story, starting from there…"

"oh yes. That would be great if you did."

_**Greetings readers! Sorry for the long delay and short chapter, but I'm finally getting over this flu bug I've been having, so I have energy to write again! ^.^**_

_**But yeah yeah, I'm sick whaaaa baby. So what. I'm over 300 views! Probably not a great landmark, but it's a start heheh. I will keep working to make the story better and all, so don't ditch me! I want this story to become something awesome, but if that falls out, ill still try to finish it, so hang in there. I'll be adding chapters until the story is through (obviously)**_

_**Well keep up the reads, and as always don't be afraid to tell me how I'm doing, because right now that would be the most useful thing ever! :D**_

_**To make up for the days I left you guys hanging, I'll be adding more, a lot more, tomorrow. So stay tuned, and tftba!**_

_**~Comrade Frakkster**_


	11. Chapter 11: Reliving the past

He stood inside a cave; all around him were tables, with Computers and stills on top. Weary men in tattered lab coats stared at Rayne as he walked in. it was a deplorable sight, with wires running back and forth across the floor, and lights hanging from the ceiling. As Rayne approached the closest man, he cringed and backed away, as if Rayne was going to harm him.

"It's ok sir, were here to help! We can take you back home!" Rayne pleaded, holding out his hands to show he was unarmed. "This place is going to collapse soon and we want to get you out of here, trust us!"

As if on cue, three Grimm lunged from the shadows, surrounding Rayne. Without hesitation, he whipped out his gun blade, sending slugs into the chest of the closest Grimm, but it continued forwards. He spun it around, and landed a gaping cut in its chest. It stumbled, and then fell, letting out a roar. The other two proceeded with their charge, the first attempting to slam into Rayne; who swiftly side-stepped and tripped it. The Grimm rolled into a table and the still came crashing down on its head, spilling the chemicals all over it. The second landed on Rayne's back, wrapping its arms around its throat and roaring in delight, until it suddenly stopped. The Grimm struggled feebly for a second, then rolled off Rayne's back, a shimmering arrow embedded in its back.

"You could have gotten here sooner, guys." Rayne said, hands on his knees and panting, trying to catch his breath.

"Oh, you looked like you had it covered, plus it was only three of them." Silva replied, cheerfully patting her brothers back and chuckling. It will take a lot more than that to bring you down." She turned her attention to the last Grimm, still kneeling and staring at Rayne. Seeing that the people had finally noticed it, the Grimm began growling and snarling out indistinct comments.

"Oh no little buddy. We aren't going to kill you. We're just going to ask you a few questions. If you answer nicely, we'll be more obliged as to let you go. But if you so much as attempt to act tough… well I have a friend I'll introduce to you. LAVVVV!" Rayne yelled down the cavern, his voice echoing, and making the scared men fidget as they watched the scene. Suddenly loud footsteps could be heard marching down one of the hallways, giving off a distinct metallic clanking sound.

A large, bulky figure emerged from the darkness. The figure held a huge battle hammer-battle axe hybrid, and had a huge billowing cape that followed them. As they approached the light, the metallic plating showed, the intricate plating and heavy armour had the person almost unrecognizable. The huge metal giant stepped up to Rayne, slammed down the hammer-axe, and lifted her visor.

"Rayne, you shouldn't yell so loud. We're not supposed to let him know were coming." Said Lavender. "And don't call me LAV!" she ended that sentence punching Rayne angrily, sending him towards the ground, pleading "Alright! Alright! I'm sorry!"

Silva laughed again, and then walked over to the Grimm that had crashed into the table. It had finally stirred, the crash knocking the wind out of it, leaving it immobilized for a few minutes. As it tried to stand up, Silva grabbed it by its neck and in her off hand, she extended the blade on her bow and slit its throat. She dragged its body to the last Grimm, and threw it down next to it, providing incentive for the beast to talk.

And suddenly there were no more smiles. No rough housing and no more small talk. Rayne stood up and wrapped his arm around its throat, Silva hovered in front of it, while Lavender retreated to the shadows again, sharpening her axe side of her weapon.

"Tell us not, Beast, where is Professor Brown?"

At approximately four in the morning, everyone in the Ignacious Estate was woken up by a series of loud bangs. Weapons were grabbed, armour was adorned slightly, and everyone ran to the source of the noise, only to find Rayne nursing a swollen hand, and several holes in the walls.

"Sorry guys. Bad dream" Rayne muttered, trying to flex his hand.

"Was the bad wall trying to get you, Rayne?" jeered Silva, sitting down next to him on his bed. Seeing her brother did not even crack a smile, she motioned for everyone to leave so she could talk to him. They left in a swift, but groggy state, ending with Notte stumbling behind the group, asking if she could stay. Silva quickly rejected it, and Notte left, looking slightly crestfallen.

"Brother, it's been two weeks and you haven't gotten a solid night's sleep. I think we should ask for help…" she started, until Rayne jumped up angrily "I do not need help! I just need time." He paused for a second, and then sat back down on the bed. "Maybe I should do this alone; having so many people here is… it's suffocating me!"

"I know how you feel, brother. After... after your funeral… I was much the same way. There was a point I left Vale, I traveled far away, to the ports of the eastern continent. And I stayed there for several years, in solitude." Her gaze was transfixed to her lap, where she was fidgeting with her fingers. She sat there quietly, trying to collect herself. The emotions from the past had never really left, but were merely suppressed. Rayne reached around her, pulling her onto his shoulder. Though it hurt to apply pressure to his hand, he ignored it.

"what was it like?"

The long moment of silence was broken suddenly by a question interjected from the doorway. The two looked up to see Notte back, closing the door behind her silently.

"I'm sorry…? Who were you talking to?" Silva asked, lifting her head away from Rayne's shoulder.

"Both of you. You both went through… terrible times. Maybe it would help both of you to express what it felt like, to each other." She kneeled down in front of them, and they looked at each other, then back to Notte. Then Silva cleared her throat and started.

"we'll, for me, it was just awful. I felt as if I had my heart cleaved in two, and everything was just wrong. He's always been there; we watch over each other, we always have; ever since we were kids, when Rayne saved me from a pack of Beowulfs in our backyard.

Have you ever felt as if you were forgetting something? You don't know what it was you could be forgetting, and it drives you insane? I felt like that, except I know exactly what was missing. After they brought your body out of the wreckage, or what was left of it, I locked myself away in my room for days. Weeks even. But I couldn't stay there, the team still needed me, and we had work to do.

I-I guess I got carried away in that work, I… did thing's I wish I hadn't done. But I didn't want to lose anyone else! But it was still wrong, and…" she stopped, suddenly choking into a sobbing mess. Notte finished for her "She went away into self-exile. That's what she meant when she said she left." Notte stopped to let Rayne think on this, but he was too busy trying to calm his sister. "Okay Mister, it's your turn."

"Hmmm… ugh this is difficult." Rayne started

"Silva told us her story, now you have to tell us yours."

"No, it's not that, it's just I don't really remember. I slightly remember before, and a little bit of after, but not during."

"Well go on with what you can remember best. Even if it isn't much, it'll be good for you to get it out" Notte responded, adjusting her sitting posture and watching Rayne try to remember.

"I do remember one thing, it's kind of weird though, and it's kind of a feeling more than a memory. And an image, every time I think about what happened this image comes to mind. I felt like, that even though I died, I wasn't done. Which is why I didn't feel all that… out of place… when I showed up at beacon, it's because I knew. Don't ask me how or why, because I don't know."

"well you seemed to know why when you appeared, you were talking about something like you meant to show up elsewhere or something…"

"Did I? I honestly can't remember; it's like my memories are just gone. It's frustrating too, because I feel like there was something important and now it's gone." Rayne growled and punched the bed, making Silva jump and squeak, as he winced in pain. After a moment of him taking deep breaths, he continued. "But the image. I see something, it's like a whirling... big ball of… something. I feel it's important, and I need to protect it, but I haven't the slightest idea what it is. Things are coming after it, like black figures, approaching from everywhere, but they all seem scared of it. And in the middle of this whole think is…" Rayne stopped, a sudden realization dawning on him. "Wolfe, the day we met. Weren't you wearing a golden ring, hanging on a chain around your neck?"

"umm… yeah, I still have it. Why?"

"Where did you get it?" Rayne was on his feet now, both Silva and Notte utterly confused and staring at him.

"I'm not sure; my mother gave it to me a long time ago. I've had it ever since she… you know" Notte was eyeing Silva, silently asking her to help, but she was bewildered, and continued to sit in silence. But then Rayne sat back down, scratching his chin and thinking to himself.

"Well, in my image, there was a ring there. It's important somehow, but I don't know how. Keep it close, Wolfe. I-" suddenly he was cut off as man burst into the room.

"I'm sorry sir, but Mistress Lavender requests your immediate presence. She says it is of the utmost urgency!" and with that the man dashed back out, and the three scrambled to follow him.

Lavender and Verdance were in the large living room. A huge holographic screen was up, projected not on a wall, but right in front of it. It showed some breaking news coverage, the news lady, Lisa, was reading off a script that was just handed to her.

"We interrupt to give you live coverage from the seaside port city of Dun Vershino, of the western continent. A city with a population of over ten thousand, wiped out almost overnight." The screen cut out to the remains of a large, bustling city, or I was; now it was rubble. Lisa continued in the background, but everyone's gaze was transfixed on the scene.

"The few survivors who held out in their homes as the attack commenced-"

The screen changed to show dozens of people, a mere fraction of those who once lived in the city before, being herded to trucks and airships. The military was searching through the rubble for more survivors.

"Many of the bodies have not been found. Either washed away out to sea or buried under the rubble, we do not know. The questions surrounding this even remain unanswered as the investigation only begins-"

"How can an entire city be wiped out in the course of one night?!" Yelled Rayne, but no one here could answer the question. Everyone was at a loss for words. Lavender cleared her throat, to get their attention.

"This isn't from today, this happened about a week ago, we just haven't been paying attention. But an assault of this magnitude… there is something going on. And according to certain sources, there are strange happenings all across remnant. Grimm becoming more brazen, ships disappearing at sea without a trace, strange sightings in the skies, and many many dissapearences. I think it's time we took a look into what is going on ourselves, just like we used to do in the old days." Verdance nodded in approval, and after a moment Silva agreed as well.

"well what are we waiting for?" asked Rayne "I sure want to know what is going on as well!"


	12. Chapter 12: A helping hand

The airship landed on the only airpad still intact close to the city. There were other ships settled down there too, and a lot of equipment trying to clear off more space. This was the special purpose airpad, but due to more and more popularity of recent events, huge influxes of 'special' guests were arriving.

But for this particular arrival, the personnel that were there felt like they were in the presence of the greatest of the great. The tales of the team had spread far and wide, even in the academy teachers veteran instructors were in awe of them, using their previous exploits as lessons for their students. Though they felt it was mainly hype, team SLVR was famous.

Silva stepped off the airship, and into the light. It was much darker inside, so she was temporarily blinded by the sun, but she could make out the figures of people standing before her. Lavender followed her, followed by Verdance, Rayne, and finally Notte, who was happy to tag along. As their eyes adjusted to the bright light, a man walked up to them, giving them a salute.

"Madame Ignacious! It is a HONOUR to have you at our side; I can give you a full report of our inquiry for what we have determined if you want. Ah! Madame Honour! Master Verdance! It is good to-" he suddenly stopped, as Rayne was emerging from the ship. "It cannot be! I thought-" the man was cut off by a glare from Silva, who interjected by saying "Oh yes, I'd be happy to see what you've come up with so far. Please, lead the way" the man nodded and held his arm out, pointing in the direction of a broken-down building.

There weren't many solid structures remaining in the city, but the damage to this one seemed less than the others, so the military had set up cam there, pitching tents around everywhere else. It seemed there were supplies for constructing a crude building, but the airpad needed more space, so people were busy working on that.

"Pardon the condition of our offices, we've been working night and day both clearing out space and hunting for survivors. Making this place look presentable has been the least of concerns, and we didn't expect someone of your… status… to arrive." The man said; attempting to make small talk with the legendary team he had strived diligently to emulate all these long years.

"Oh, we don't mind. We've worked in worse places, most of the time we'd be happy to have shelter in something half as good as this." Replied Lavender, referring to the long years they had spent in haven valley, tracking and hunting down Grimm. The man laughed and replied "I'm sure you did. Those were crazy times!" and as he said that he stopped at a door, and began unlocking it. "okay, here is the board room, you wait here and I'll gather the other commanders from around the base." He motioned for them to enter the room. As Rayne walked past him, he stopped, looked at the man and whispered "You wouldn't believe just how crazy!" and entered the room. They all sat down, and the man silently closed the door, mulling over the strange encounter with Rayne.

Rayne was a nice guy, with a friendly smile and a caring face. But in the blink of an eye, he could become very intimidating. He rarely did this, he preferred everyone to think of him as happy-go-lucky, but there were those occasions such a stance is necessary. For those on the receiving end, it could be terrifying, something about the way Rayne glared could stop a man on the spot, or at least give them goose bumps.

The board room was messy. On the table was a huge map of the city, pinned down on the corners, with smaller, more in-depth maps covering it. All over the map were red blotches and shapes. Huge circles filled with x's and squares were sprawled across the map, Rayne guessed they were search areas, x's meant areas where nothing showed up, or where there were no survivors found, and squares were areas people had been found. There were smaller dots too, most likely points of interest.

"hey, Rayne. Look at these!" Silva called from across the room. Rayne looked over, and saw she was looking at photos pinned on the wall. As he approached he realized they were stills, most likely taken from cameras recovered in the wreckage. But the figures in the photos were interesting. They were unlike anything he had seen, he couldn't even describe what he was looking at, but it was massive.

"Wow. Wonder what it is?" he asked, not expecting an answer. Silva replied "Dunno", and continued to look at each photo "Wish there were clearer photos though."

For several minutes they inspected the room, looking at more maps and photos, and Notte played with a radio in the corner of the room, but it didn't seem to be picking up anything. As they did this, a few people trickled in to the room. Some were astonished as they saw team SLVR, while others seemed indifferent. But it didn't bug them, they never wanted recognition anyways, only work.

Finally the first man entered the room, followed by a woman. All the people aside from SLVR and Notte saluted as they entered, so Rayne guessed she was the one in charge.

"Colonel Jade Wysong, this is Team SLVR… and their… intern?" Notte let of a complaint, but was stifled by Silva "It is a pleasure to meet you, Jade. I Am Silva-"

"I know who you are, Silva Ignacious. You and your team have half my men giddy as schoolgirls, and I want to know why." She was stern and cold. There was a very bitter sentiment coming from her, as if she looked down on them. Silva did not like it, but she kept her cool "I do not know what you're-"

"We don't need your help, SLVR. We don't need it, and never asked for it. You just decided to show up, without proper warning or procedure. I have enough problems without having a bunch of civilians running around, disruption our efforts here!"

"I'm sorry Ma'am, but we didn't come to disrupt anything, and we don't mean to be a boon. We are here because we want to figure out what happened, just like everyone else here!" yelled Rayne, angry about how he was treating them, and glared at her. She glared back, and the two maintained a menacing glare at each other for several minutes. Finally she backed off, lowering her voice, she said 'Fine. You may 'help out' around here. I know you've worked with the military in the past, and have had free reign, but I am in charge here. If you do anything, you go through me first, understand?"

Rayne nodded, and the woman left the room, followed by a few of the other people in the room. The man they first met on the airpad stayed behind, apologizing to SLVR.

"I apologize for her behavior. She is a busy woman, with a lot on her plate. Also the fact that she's a faunas, she seems to think that because of that she needs to act detached, I guess it makes her seem more important."

"She's a faunas?" Notte looked up, interested by this notion.

"Yes dear, she is bear faunas. Her hat covers her ears, but besides those, you can't really tell."

"Wow, does she get a lot of hate because of it?" Notte asked, her interest in the other faunas increasing.

"Aye, she got some early on, but not so much anymore. The last man to call her an animal got… well I guess 'mauled' is a little too much to say. But she demands the respect for herself, and the other faunas under her command. Because of that, our division has the highest faunas percentage in the military, but we don't mind, the faunas are actually very nice people. And great partners, they always have your back, as long as you give them the same." And at that two other people in the room nodded, and removed their hats. One was a hare, his long ears folded under his hat. The other was a cat, and he twitched his ears back and forth.

Notte showed them her ears, and her long canines. "I don't much like my teeth like this, but I would never change it just for the sake of looking more human." She insisted. "Well we haven't been introduced, you two are…"

"I am Mitchell Ambers, chief engineer. This is Theodore burgundy, warrant officer and the guy in charge of monitoring supplies" Said the hare faunas, Mitchell. Theodore waved hello as everyone acknowledged him. The man they first met piped up "And I am Keiva Nightraven. And may I say, it is an HONOUR to meet you all." He was getting jittery again, like he was when he met them at the ship.

"Well Keiva, interesting name, I must say. I don't think I've ever met a Keiva before. Pleasure to meet you" Said Rayne, and Silva nodded and smiled, shaking his hand. Lavender walked up to him, shaking his hand and greeted him. 'I am Honour, and it's great to meet you all as well. The quiet one is Verdance, he's thrilled to meet you as well."

Verdance was asleep in a chair in the far corner of the room, having not been awoken by the group that had come and left. Lavender chuckled at him, but didn't wake him up.

Rayne walked up to the table, and flattened out the map on top of the rest. "I see you have some sort of plan in progress, can you fill us in?"

Keiva walked up to the map, and began pointing out various spots. "This here is our forward emergency care unit. Or it will be, it is in a building like this one, mainly intact. From there we send out search parties, we have a few groups out already, but the city is a mess, you literally can't tell if you're on a road or someone's former home."

"I can't imagine what could have cause this kind of damage. I see there was flooding when we flew over it, and in the media coverage, so was this some kind of natural disaster?" Silva asked, walking up to the table as well and leaning against it, but not looking at the map.

"Well at first we thought it was, but we have reports, perhaps from unreliable sources, that there was a full-scale attack. We hope to find more cameras and search them for any evidence that there was an attack, but the fact that there was no distress signal implies that whatever happened here, it happened fast."

"You mean more pictures like these? What is this? It looks massive, but it also looks like a blob." Lavender was over by the photos on the wall when she said this, bringing everyone's attention to her. They migrated from the table to the wall and huddled around it. Verdance snorted in his chair, and then stretched. His hood fell off, exposing his long black hair.

"nice of you to join us, Verdance. But what are we looking at here Keiva?" Rayne said. Verdance got to his feet and shuffled over to where everyone was, but upon seeing the picture merely rubbed his eyes and walked away, Allowing Keiva to get closer to the photo.

"oh, yes. This is whatever caused the flooding. We think it is a tidal wave, and it could have been what caused most of the damage and carried many people out to sea."

Silva looked at him as he finished "Oh, really? Is there anyone searching out there?"

"Yes, the coast guard has set up their own base along the beach, and they have boats out looking for survivors. Not much luck though." Keiva sounded disappointed as he said this, almost as if he were holding on to some hope that they would find people, but the city lay on the tip of a peninsula, and the ocean was wide and wild, anyone swept out in that sea would have little chance of being rescued. "But that is their concern. For all we know, there could be hundreds of people just below the surface, and despite what Colonel Wysong said, we could use many, many more hands out there searching through the debris. People's lives depend on us, and we cannot let them down." he finished with a very dignified tone, like someone giving a rallying speech.

"I agree Keiva. We will do whatever is necessary to either help the survivors, or discover what happened. Both are important, but it seems we can't do both, we are just five." Rayne said, acknowledging his determination.

"yes, good. We will decide soon enough, but first we need to get you situated. You will be staying with us a while, it seems, so we need to get you some living quarters. I'm afraid tents will have to do, since none of the rooms in this building are open. I hope you don't mind."

Rayne smiled, nodding he understood "Not a problem. Just show us the way!"

Meanwhile, a lone freighter was sailing along, many miles away from the city. Having lost its way in the mist that had suddenly appeared, it got separated from its group. Flares had been fired, but there had been no response.

"Captain! Our flares are almost out!" a crewman yelled out. The captain grunted, he had no idea where he was going, for all the navigation controls were haywire. The compass spun in circles and the fog blocked the sun. Even the wind seemed to come from all directions. The waves around them had suddenly grown in size, and everyone feared a rogue wave would seal their fate.

'_At least the fog lights are still on, so we can avoid any rocks' _he thought to himself, straining his eyes to see through the mist. Another crewmember came into the cabin, panting in exhaustion.

"Reeves… he… he saw something sir!"

"What did he see?" asked the captain, turning to look at the crewman, but he only motioned for the captain to follow, and ran back out the door. The captain grabbed his binoculars and followed him, running out onto the deck.

Several men were leaning over the edge, hanging on with one hand while pointing or covering their eyes with the other. The captain stumbled as a wave rocked the boat, and several crewmen yelled in unison, and man was sent rolling along the deck.

"Get your life vests on! I don't want to see anyone without one! Ryan, go get mine!" the captain barked orders at the men as he approached the side.

"There sir, you see that huge mound?"

The captain raised his binoculars for a second, lowered them, and raised them again. A look of horror crossed his face, and he handed them to the man next to him, who had a similar reaction.

"son, behold the greatest beast this world has ever known."

A roar rang out across the ocean

"The Leviathan"

A fisherman sat in his boat, humming to himself as the sun bathed him in its warm touch. A bell rang, and he lifted his hat and looked at his rod.

A catch!

He grabbed his rob and started reeling it in, laughing to himself. He could see a shadowy figure at the end of his line, it wasn't a fish. He was crestfallen, but he wanted to see what he had hooked. With a little splosh, a pair of binoculars emerged.

"Oh, cool! And it's a nice pair! I guess this wasn't so bad after all!" he was humming again. He looked to the east, and could see black clouds drifting by. They were going away, past him, so he was safe. Binoculars around his neck, he cast his reel back out, and say back down, looking around in his new binoculars.

"perhaps today wasn't such a bad day after all!"


End file.
